There's so much going on in my life right now with getting everything in order for setting out on the road in mid-November for my adventure in travel nursing.
My new Trane heating/cooling system is going to be installed next week. That should drop my winter heating bills from $500 - $600 per month to under $200 per month. Whoo Hoo!
My dining room ceiling started leaking water last week during an exceptionally, hard rain. I called my insurance company and they checked it out. The are going to replace my entire roof for just the $500 deductible. I'm going to save $6,000 on that one!!
Now for the big news.
There is a magnet Arts and Science school locally that is free and takes kids from Kindergarten through 12th grade. The registration for next year's kindergarten is on October 24th. Because the school admits on a first come / first serve basis, parents have historically lined up out side of the school for 2-3 weeks before the admission day.
Asuming the above timing, I called the school yesterday to inquire about when the line might start, and I received a startling reply. The line started on September 28th. A full month before the admission date!!
Holy Crap!
I threw on some jeans and drove like a 'bat out of hell' to the school. What I found was three women manning a table with sign up information. It was pretty cool outside, so they were sitting at the end of the school's parking lot, dressed for the cold, with a tarp canopy above them, and a large barrel with a burning fire for heat, slightly upwind of them. While I stood there signing my kids up, and learning the rules for this year's registration, I was bathed constantly in a smokey haze thinking of how much carbon monoxide I was taking in.
The rules this year are as follows:
I must be at that same table, every day at 6:30 pm from now until registration day for role call. Roll call means that someone calls out every registration number starting with the number one. When your number is called, you respond that you are there, and show the 'caller' the physical sheet of paper you received when you signed your child up, with your child's number on it. If you don't have the paper, or you miss the roll-call, your child's name is scratched from the list.
For instance, they called number 134 three times yesterday, then called out the name of the person who signed up with that number. The person wasn't there. They continued calling numbers and when they were near the end, a woman drove up and jumped out of her car yelling, "I have number 134!" She was told that it was too late. Her number had been scratched from the list and if she wanted back on the list, she'd have to sign up at the end of the list. She was furious! They didn't budge on their rules.
Another rule. Three people must always 'man' the sign-up table 24/7. Those people are the parents of the Kindergarten kids on the list. I was informed that I would have to sign up for 3-four hour shifts to man the table - for EACH CHILD I had on the list. I have 2 children, so I had to sign up for 6-four hour shifts! Neglecting to do so, I was told, will knock your kid's names off of the list. Luckily, I was able to get 6 shifts that run from 2pm-6pm which is the warmest part of the day.
The bad news is that my kid's numbers are 161 and 162. The good news is that 20 plus names have already been scratched off the list below me, moving me up. I'm told that the first 100 usually get in, and that if my kids don't get in for kindergarten, that they will get in for the first grade. This is all hearsay from the mothers running the sign up table. I will investigate further when I'm sitting with them.
In the midst of all of my house cleaning, packing, and preparing for my trip in November, interspersing that stuff with the school check-ins and manning their sign-up table will keep me very busy for the next 3-4 weeks. I'm up to the challenge, though.
Script Girrl
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